In Vivo Identification of Glycolipid Antigen–Specific T Cells Using Fluorescent Cd1d Tetramers

The CD1 family of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-like molecules specializes in presenting lipid and glycolipid antigens to α/β T lymphocytes, but little is known about the size of the CD1-restricted T cell population or the frequency of T lymphocytes specific for a given glycolipid antigen. Here, we report the generation and use of mouse CD1d1–glycolipid tetramers to visualize CD1d-restricted T cells. In contrast with previous BIAcore-based estimates of very short half-lives for CD1d–glycolipid complexes, we found that the dissociation rate of several different CD1d–glycolipid complexes was very slow. Fluorescent tetramers of mouse CD1d1 complexed with α-galactosylceramide (αGalCer), the antigen recognized by mouse Vα14-Jα281/Vβ8 and human Vα24-JαQ/Vβ11 natural killer T (NKT) cell T cell receptors (TCRs), allowed us for the first time to accurately describe, based on TCR specificity, the entire population of NKT cells in vivo and to identify a previously unrecognized population of NK1.1-negative “NKT” cells, which expressed a different pattern of integrins. In contrast, natural killer (NK) cells failed to bind the tetramers either empty or loaded with αGalCer, suggesting the absence of a CD1d-specific, antigen-nonspecific NK receptor. Mouse CD1d1–αGalCer tetramers also stained human NKT cells, indicating that they will be useful for probing a range of mouse and human conditions such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, tumor rejection, and infectious diseases where NKT cells play an important role.